By Erin Cummings

When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was to grow up as fast as I could. I impatiently awaited turning 10- “double digits,” as if it were the Holy Grail of my pre-teen years. I soon moved on to the heady anticipation of getting my driver’s license, graduating from high school, and leaving home for college. Those were the milestones that couldn’t come fast enough for me. More than anything, I was desperate to make it to five years of remission from Hodgkin lymphoma.

My friend and fellow survivor Stephanie Gayhart, MHI, RN, recently wrote about how a seemingly innocuous event could stir up profound feelings of anxiety about her cancer experience. I wanted to tell her that this gets better with time. Maybe, for some, it does. But for me and many others, being jolted into the past continues to be an ongoing challenge.

That’s what one of my treatment options was called when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My breast surgeon laid out the choices in front of me. It was caught early—small, DCIS stage 0. The doctor who gave me the diagnosis called it “practically nothing.”

One of the most insidious aspects of having cancer is that you often have it before you know it’s there. How crazy is to find out, after the fact, that this potential killer is lurking somewhere inside you, and you had absolutely NO idea? I didn’t.

If our conference has inspired you to DO something, there are several ways that you can use your cancer experience and your voice to make a difference.

It was not too long ago that pairing the word cancer with either survivor or veteran seemed like a contradiction in terms. When I was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease (now Hodgkin Lymphoma) 30 years ago, these terms were simply not a part of the cancer vocabulary.

“Last night’s Academy Awards got me thinking… On Being a Cancer Survivor, “Barbie Style”- America Ferrera’s monologue about womanhood in the movie “Barbie” nailed it for me.

Have you ever felt dismissed or belittled by a healthcare provider? You describe your symptoms, but the response is indifferent, dismissive, or skeptical, leaving you questioning your own experiences.

A book review and personal thoughts from a fellow Hodgkin's survivor, Maria Sarath Ragucci.

I titled this article 'The Myth of Survivorship' to highlight the need for active participation in our lives rather than just surviving. I don't see myself as a survivor because it implies a passive role, as though I am a victim of disease and circumstances beyond my control.